Adachi to Shimamura

Shoujo Ai/Yuri is a somewhat controversial genre. Most people I have seen are quite indifferent when it comes to Shoujo Ai and often try avoiding it; partly because same sex relationship has always been a sensitive topic, but mostly because of the fact that a lot of Shoujo Ai anime have been very ineffective lately. I'm not a big fan of Shoujo Ai either. While I'm definitely not against the concept of lesbian relationships being depicted in anime, among the few Shoujo Ai anime that I watched, not a single one managed to appeal to me. Rather, because of poor storytelling and particularly bland characters, I thought they were mediocre to say the least. Suffice to say, my experience with the Shoujo Ai genre hasn't exactly been great. Until I found Adachi to Shimamura, that is. I won't lie, I was a bit skeptical about watching Adachi to Shimamura at first. Having had a bitter experience with the Shoujo Ai genre in the past, my first impressions of the show weren't very promising. I thought it was just going to be another generic Shoujo Ai anime—it didn't seem like something I would enjoy. I probably couldn't have been more wrong, though, as I fell in love with the series right from the get-go. Adachi to Shimamura, or shortly AdaShima, is built on the relationship of two high school students, namely—you guessed it—Adachi and Shimamura. The story of the anime is told from the perspectives of these two young girls, as they spend precious time together and try to figure out what they truly mean to each other. And I have to say, this show does such a beautiful job at portraying their relationship. Adachi and Shimamura are introduced as typical buddies who merely hangout with each other during class time. We are given the early impression that they don't see each other as more than somewhat close friends. However, as the distance between the two continues decrease, they begin to realize that their relationship might not be as simple as they initially thought. When I'm saying "they", I'm mostly referring to Adachi. I will get to that in a bit. Adachi and Shimamura are rather unalike, I would say. On one hand, we have Adachi, an unsociable and shy girl who prefers avoiding any social interaction and skips almost all of her classes. On the other hand, we have Shimamura, who also skips classes; but unlike Adachi, she seems sociable and outgoing (which isn't entirely true). Shimamura, in many ways, is vastly different from Adachi. However, when they are together, their dissimilarities cease to become relevant and don't matter at all. Since AdaShima explores the minds of both Adachi and Shimamura individually, we get insights into their thought-processes and their feelings for each other. Because of this, we are quickly informed of any kind of development in their relationship, even if it may seem minor or insignificant to most. This is one of the many aspects that separate AdaShima from other Shoujo Ai anime, and this is also where Adachi's excellence shows in my opinion. Adachi is easily the shining star of the show for me. Don't get me wrong; I love Shimamura too, but Adachi is truly special. Her prowess as a character probably lies the most in her relatability. Yes, she might be very reserved, timid and unsociable. Yes, she might even be a little clingy, jealous and possessive at times. But knowing her circumstances, pretty much all of it is justifiable. Adachi, just like any other person, wants to make a lot of friends. She wants to talk with them, hangout with them, go to various places with them, and simply have a lot of fun with them. And Shimamura is just the person who can help her do that. Insightful explorations into Adachi's mind is another aspect that makes her such a great character. Through these explorations, the anime lets the viewers know more of Adachi's thoughts, internal struggles, insecurities—or to put it simply, Adachi herself. This greatly fleshes out her character and makes her a nuanced person. Her monologues about herself and her feelings for Shimamura are also nothing short of beautiful, making her even more appealing as a character. Adachi's seiyuu Akari Kitou's contribution here is undeniably vital. In a way, among the two, Adachi plays a more—for lack of a better word—mature role in the relationship. Despite rejecting her feelings toward Shimamura at first, she gradually learns to accept it. While Shimamura stays kinda oblivious of her feelings for considerably a long time, Adachi becomes aware of her feelings rather quickly and tries her best to advance their relationship, even if she doesn't always succeed. This explains what I said a few paragraphs ago (about "they" mostly referring to Adachi). As I said earlier, though, Shimamura is not a bad character by any means. She is rather one of the most essential parts that make AdaShima so great. She seems ordinary upon first impression, but it is soon apparent that there is far more to her than meets the eye. Shimamura keeps up the appearance of a normal, friendly and outgoing girl, but in reality, she is a self-aware person who has built an imaginary shell around her that most people, including her "friends", can't get through. She always stays cautious of others when she interacts with them and never puts much trust in them, which explains her oblivious nature at times. Again, adeptly dissecting Shimamura's mind through monologues like Adachi is very effective in this regard. Shimamura's contribution in Adachi's development is irrefutable. It's because of Shimamura that Adachi is starting to change for the better. Like Adachi said, Shimamura is her sun—someone who makes her everyday life a lot brighter and a lot more exciting. Because of Shimamura, school has turned into something Adachi now looks forward to everyday. Contrary to her past self, she has become a lot livelier and a lot more cheerful. And that truly is a remarkable achievement. That isn't to say Adachi didn't have any affect on Shimamura at all. In fact, she did. Shimamura may not have realized it right away, but Adachi is one of the very few people who have broken through her shell and have directly affected her. While some viewers might say that Shimamura's change isn't very apparent, it isn't negligible by any means. Rather, Adachi's arrival is a very crucial event in Shimamura's life that helped her change herself for the better. Some people may have complaints about the slow progression of Adachi and Shimamura's relationship, but I don't think it's an issue at all. It's true that their relationship progresses at a rather slow pace, but the progression is indeed steady and consistent for the entirety of the series. In most romance anime, this slow progression would get annoying after a while, but here, it's completely believable if you take their personalities and their circumstances into account (for example, the fact that both of them are girls, for which they are likely to have a more difficult time understanding their emotions). Another aspect that is worth looking into is how their relationship progresses—or more specifically, what helps their relationship progress. As I said earlier, the romantic advancement in AdaShima is rather slow-paced, but it is purposeful and not done in an unrealistic way for the most part. A lot of thought and consideration has been put into almost all of their interactions and dialogues to make them meaningful and relatable to all the viewers. An example of this can be found in episode 4. At the end of the episode, Shimamura buys Adachi a juice can, which Adachi decides to keep to herself instead of throwing it away and cherishes it as a gift from Shimamura. This may seem stupid to others, but I think every person who has ever been in love, irrespective of their sexuality, can relate to this. Yes, it is stupid. But that doesn't make it wrong or meaningless any way. No matter what others may say, it is, in fact, quite meaningful. This, again, shows how much care has…

Humans are social animals, meaning we interact with other humans and experiment how we live with our lives. Adachi no Shimamura’s storytelling feels like a social exploration of two female characters and how their interactions influences each other. Hitoma Iruma’s light novel getting an anime adaptation brings together this unforgettable slice of life, romance tale. Everyone in this world has their own story. Regardless of race, gender, social status, or any other factor, each one of us lives in our own story. However, our own story sometimes intersects with others and that’s how relationships are built. Among relationships, one of the most dynamic and complex is romance. Not every romance story begins with a pair of characters falling in love. From the very first episodes, we meet Sakura Adachi and Hougetsu Shimamura. With a habit of skipping school classes, both girls meet by what seems to be a red line string of fate. On that special day, their story would come together and become one they won’t ever forget. At their age, teenagers are the most common form of social animals in society. Adachi and Shimamura exemplifies what it means to be youthful and growing up. They may not have endgame goals in life yet but they have to opportunity to discover their future. Adachi no Shimamura carries a relationship bond that can be simple to understand or complex as you want it to be. Adachi’s encounter with Shimamura isn’t anything out of the ordinary but there’s already something special about them from the very first episode. From there on, the two builds on their relationship beyond the classroom doors as they each discover similarities and differences between each other. Indeed, this anime’s roadmap has it settled together with the beginning, middle, and to the end. It would seem that while the anime adaptation handles itself at 12 episodes, it knew what road to follow with its pacing. Every episode throws in a new opportunity in some shape or form for Adachi and Shimamura to bond. It all feels so realistic because these opportunities exist in real life such as going shopping, sharing presents during the holidays, or simply just hanging out together at school. Do you remember your teenage years? It was a time to learn more about just school. It was a time to learn about how to be who you want to be in society. Adachi and Shimamura's personalities are also amplified whenever they are together. When you see the two interact, it looks like two curious animals playing with each other. This is unusual for the case of Adachi, as she is introduced with a rather reserved personality. On the other hand, Shimamura is somewhat of a scatterbrain with trouble socializing with others. From the first few episodes, you can tell that both characters aren’t exactly classroom leaders or the first person to raise their hand in class for a school play. They keep to themselves and skip classes to avoid social interaction. Despite the small cast of characters, the show maintains important relationships between its cast. Outside of our titular characters, there’s also Hino and Nagafuji. With their strong connection, we learn about their commitment as close friends, and perhaps even more. It’s through their bond that carries the intimacy of a relationship. Further down the road, we are introduced to self-proclaimed alien girl Yashiro Chikama, one of the most unusual characters in the show. (don't worry, she's not an actual alien). Often wondering around and about, Chikama displays the innocence of a social animal. Unlike most of the main cast, she loves interacting with others and trying to sell her image as an alien. This type of personality represents the opposite of Adachi and Shimamura, who tries to avoid dealing with other social animals. Nonetheless, Chikama’s addition to the show brings in the comedic side of the anime. Let’s face it, if this show is melancholic throughout the entire duration, it could feel stale. And indeed, be prepared for a lot of melancholic moments ranging from the very first episode to the end. Like I said before, it would seem this show had its roadmap planned from the start. It knew where the anime would begin and how it would end. Watching this show from start to finish also felt like living in their world with the cast. Adachi and Shimamura are designed with delicacy and feminine charm. This is especially true for Adachi with her icy dark hair while Shimamura has the look of an innocent young woman. On the other hand, Chikama has the unusual look of her skin, almost as if shining as an otherworldly being. Regardless, all the characters are believable humans and it’s not hard to see why. Their character expressions reflect how normal people would interact regardless of their personalities. Furthermore, there’s an elegant degree of tranquility with the visual backgrounds of the show. This applies to scenes with bike riding scenes to the intimate moments we see so often throughout each episode. No, you won’t get to see girls having sex but you will definitely see how curious social animals such as Adachi and Shimamura come together like destiny. I’m just going to throw it out here and say that regardless how you feel about lesbian relationships, there’s a chance to learn something about the show altogether. When God gave us brains, we all got free will and can chose to be with we want to be with. In this show, there’s Adachi and Shimamura, a pair of social animals that shows us what it means to be real humans.

Adachi to Shimamura is easily one of the best and most realistic romance stories I have ever experienced. One of the gems of the year. The decade is just beginning, but when it’s all said and done, I think I will look back on Adachi and Shimamura as one of the best anime of the decade. Why? It’s not often that animanga/LN’s portray Yuri in a realistic manner. Often times the girls are heavily sexualised and the romance feels like pure fanservice for horny guys. There’s only a handful of good shoujo ai series and Adachi to Shimamura is one of them. The relationship between Adachi and Shimamura gradually developing from acquaintances, to friends, to romance blooming is a slow and gradual progression over the course of the show and by the end, we still aren’t quite there. This is a very realistic representation of how real relationships work. Healthy ones at least. While there’s certainly some traditional Yuri and romance tropes going on in the series, for the most part the storytelling is grounded and natural. On top of handling romance well, I think Adachi to Shimamura does a great job of handling adolescence and the challenges of sexual identity. Adachi and Shimamura are at pivotal points in their lives when you begin to recognise more and more about yourself. The show presents a realistic depiction of teenager(s) coming to grips with their sexual orientation and doesn’t fetishise it. In addition to its handling of adolescence and romance, Adachi to Shimamura is just a damn cute anime. There are a lot of moments that genuinely made me squeal like a little girl because of how well executed they are. There’s some great wholesome moments that newcomers to the genre and vets alike will enjoy. I can’t recommend this series enough for anyone looking for solid romance. Adachi to Shimamura gets 10 astronauts out of 10.

In an era where girls love and yuri titles are rare, a lesbian's gotta eat right? So I tend to watch anything that's even yuri leaning. Which is how I started watching Adachi to Shimamura in the first place. The art style is cute, the girls are fun, and there's lots of yearning. What more could a girl want? For all of that to go somewhere, probably. I have not read the manga, so I don't know if anything was resolved further there. But,,, even the Bloom Into You anime got further. I wasn't ever bored watching that; I had to skip through quite a bit of Adachi to Shimamura because it tended to drag on quite a bit without ever really going anywhere. There were also just some elements that felt out of place and random? Like the alien girl and Shimamura's childhood friend felt stapled on and not properly explored or explained. And... god I was hoping for a confession. It was just a lot of baiting and they REALLY leaned into the yearning. Which, is fine! I love yearning as much as anyone else! But... I prefer for that yearning to have payoff and to feel satisfying. Which, the ending of this anime just didn't. It didn't really do anything with either girls' feelings and... that sucked a bit. The bits that were good were good, and I really liked the dynamic between the two leads and even the supporting cast. But... it's just too forgettable. It's very plain Jane and flowery, not really doing anything new or interesting. I really hate to be a downer and leave this series with such a bummer outlook, but I've gotta say I'm a bit disappointed with it.

I wanted to like it but I just couldn't. I love slow romance and slice of life, so that's definetly not a problem for me. I feel like the series falls into a lot of tropes and doesn't do anything intersting with them. The way a few elements at the beginning make you go “okay, these characters have room to grow, so lets see how it evovles”, but when they don't do so is a bit frustrating. I feel that ultimately the main characters have a bit of an anti-dynamic, as they are sometimes horrible to each other in very subtle ways. One seems to be very openly into the other, who whether or purpose or not acts entirely oblivious. Shimamura I still don't quite understand what her character is, and the series doesn't want to explore that in any meaningful way. She sure thinks about stuff a lot, but that never really takes shape in her actions. I know her actions are supposed to be artificial, but there's no real distincton between how she acts towards Adachi. It ultimately feels like she doesn't actually care about her. The characters often say one thing (or rather think) and do a different thing. Ultimately nothing happens between them, so I have the feeling that it was going nowhere. Especially since a lot of times the structure of the episodes is repeated and each time the effect is the same, that despite the fact that the characters talk about how much they mean to each other, there is a certain feeling that the status quo resets every night and ultimately this “change” of theirs is purely arbitrary, because nothing actively changes between episode 1 and 12, because they continue their relationship looks largely the same, and they continue to be unsure if they even like each other and distant which after the whole series is a bit of a slap in the face to the viewer. Especially since the insight into their personalities is so limited that it feels totally illogical at times how they behave relative to what we are shown they are thinking. I do enjoy the ideas the show wants to convey, because two girls coming out of their shells is lovely, but the way this show handles it doesnt really make it satisfying, because they ultimately dont want to open up to each other and talk about things. Their flaws as humans are never addressed with each other. Adachi is morbidly jealous of everything, while Shimamura simply isolates herself emotionally from everyone and sends Adachi mixed signals the entire time. And well, of course they refuse to communicate. While at first its cute because Adachi's a bit awkward, as the series goes on, it really makes you dislike the two leads. Adachi being so horribly jealous she gives Shimamura the silent treatment for days because she talks to any other girl is definetly not a healthy way to approach their relationship, so I wish she at least acknowledged that she's doing something wrong rather than going "I guess Shimamura doesnt really care about me, because she talked to someone else for a few seconds." And the worst part is that she is somehow right! When we get to see Shimamura's POV, she often talks about how distant she is to everything and everyone and that maybe her relationship with Adachi is not gonna last. She has no desire ever fighting for Adachi and despite them being best friends, she doesnt treat her any different from people she seemigly doesnt care about. With how much she talks about being distant and not creating actual connections, it feels like wasted potential for her to never bring it up with Adachi or not to explore how she actually feels under that mask of being cheery. The series never wants to address who Shimamura is, who she wants to be and especially what she wants of Adachi. If they are supposed to be different than all the other artificial friendships Shimamura had in the past, doesnt seem to put the effort towards it, often making Adachi feel bad on purpose (like with questioning her on why she enjoys physical intimacy with her, despite knowing it makes her doubt herself) The ending itself is also extremely unsatisfying. I feel like the series sets up like 5 mini-plots and none of them get resovled in any meanngful way. Adachi never kisses Shimamura as she wanted. Adachi never learns of Tarumi. Nagafuji and Hiro just stop appearing at a certain point (only to get a small cameo in the final ep). Somehow Nagafuji and Hiro had better chemistry than the two leads, but they just got tossed in the bin. Yashiro doesn't ultimately achieve anything (I dont want her origins explained, but just do something with her). The series just ends and it ultimately feels entirely pointless, as their relationship didnt grow in any significant way, so what was the story they were telling? The technical side of things deserves praise. The music, voicework as well as the animation are lovely and make the experience a lot more bearable. The concepts of two very different people coming out of their shells through their mutual connection and ultimately love is a lovely subject, but this series doesn't do it any justice. The leads are infuriating at times and while their cute moments are definetly cute, them being terrible for each other makes it sour and prevents me from enjoying the series. If you seek a very similar story done right, I highly recommend the movie Doukyusei. It's pretty much the exact same in terms of premise, but universally better in every single aspect of the storytelling. (Also. who decided to put a scene of a pedophile staring at kids at a pool? What purpose did it serve? That's the only male character in the show btw. So unnesecary and bizarre, please don't do it again.)

‘Adachi to Shimamura’ should go to the trash for its ridiculously slow development of story. The plot is kind of realistic, however, word realistic is a derogatory term here talking about plot. In the domain of non-politically related plots, realistic means mediocre or further, dull. The heroines talk and think about the same things in each of the 12 episodes, but no fundamental difference is made. In the end, it seems that nothing do occur. The heroines literally do nothing for their romance. The plot is only flavorless water; the climax is hot water, which is hot but still flavorless. Compared to the dull plot, the animation is good, but this does not necessarily mean this anime is good. The soul, the absolute center of a fiction is plot. There is no way to redeem a dull story with animation visual art.

Cutesy (albeit cliche), pure and wholesome (albeit tropey) Yuri, the Animation. "It takes two (hands) to clap/tango" as they say. A story of two "magical fairy-tales": a girl and a girl (how else am I gonna say?), the former very closed up on her feelings and goes on the attacc when being able to open up to people; the latter already well acquainted with people and getting along with fellow friends at the norm. A simple dose of wishful thinking and a safe haven that the two always frequent to, starts their uncanny "relationship" of being simple hang-out friends. Progressing at an atypical slow burn of questioning their own individual morals and values that could jeopardise their "status" if altercations were to happen, this is the light-hearted "friends or lovers" Yuri relationship story of Sakura Adachi and Hougetsu Shimamura. As a straight male, and having watched some Yuri high-school setting of slice-of-life shows in the past (of which Yagate Kimi ni Naru (a.k.a Bloom Into You) is one of the recent and finest examples) to having a clear expectation and perception of the genre, I still don't know what to think of this one...until this weird turquoise-haired self-proclaimed alien girl Yashiro Chikama appeared in the show, and donning an astronaut suit of her first impressions. That was when I realized that there was something interestingly magical about this, and yeap: it's Hitoma Iruma, the same mangaka/novelist that created Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko back in 2009 (anyone remember the futon-wrapped "alien" Erio Touwa?). As usual, Hitoma Iruma's "masterful" work of the sci-fi genre always leaves me hanging on what to make up for the "convenient" alien sub-plot (that always seems like his go-to to create some easy-going atmosphere that doesn't contribute a lot to the main plot, but whatever), and it's mostly the same here, so TL;DR: Yashiro's mostly an eccentric extra for adding into the mystical aspect. On a sidenote, if you're referring to the manga adaptation of the LN, there's actually 2 different versions of different illustrators: Mani and Moke Yuzuhara. The former, a largely condensed version (with an open ending) and the latter, what the adaptation mostly follows (because that route is the best in terms of fleshed-out content and character development). Be aware that the anime constantly fluctuates the sequence of contents between both manga (sometimes both manga will have the same event, just represented differently from time to time) to capture the feel of the series in its entirety. That's something rare to see though, and props for the follow-up. With the clarification of the source materials outta the way, you might be wondering what's up with the main cast of (count not 1, but 2) Yuri relationships. Yes, Adachi and Shimamura are the main Yuri couple, but I just feel that I've gotta give a shout-out to their classmates Taeko Nagafuji and Akira Hino (whom are also another Yuri couple and friends since kindergarten times), just sliding in for additional character effects of being casual and helping the main couple be relaxed in the school setting (and the provocative teasing goes on privately behind closed doors). Referring back to both Adachi and Shimamura though (as with Bloom Into You), going deep into the character "mantra" lore of the POV perception just makes the both of them feel humanly connected, and not for the sake of just being cardboard cut-outs (unlike the horrible drama-esque Citrus, that one is just too sour and salty). Going through school life and hanging out together to the realization of feelings for one another, both Adachi and Shimamura have to make big strides in keeping their "romantic" relationship intact (well, mostly Adachi anyways). In life, it's just like the sensitivity of friends in general, and walking into the next big step of a transitional relationship can be tough. Watching both characters dig deep into their POV world, and imaginations of how various situational circumstances could have played out (par for the course) of making headways, along with the "one step closer" rhetoric to fulfilling their own defining desires of "friendship". Of course, not everything is "a bed of roses", and the insecurities of both Adachi and Shimamura start to pop up: the former's sustained mood swings of her loner status, and puppy-like doggone loyalty to the latter from "friends to lovers", and the latter's other life circumstances (from her family, to a past "burden" (a.k.a elementary school friend Tarumi, and with nicknames to match (Shima & Taru) before being very distant growing up and heading to different schools)). The TL;DR is this: every moment of the main duo's life of reason feels very human, very real and relatable amongst all the interactions. A relatively simple premise, yet doesn't all that contrived, and an overall better execution of magnificently well-written and realistic characters. Having produced the 1st season of Go-toubun no Hanayome (a.k.a The Quintessential Quintuplets), the legendary "Godfather of Manga" Osamu Tezuka's self-creation of his production studio may have fallen from grace as one of the prolific anime studios of the late 20th Century, but it's not all that bad. Having said that, the production of said series (even the co-production of Dororo with MAPPA) truly was an eye-opener to see a resurgence of the studio under a new generation of staff that could compete with the likes of Shaft in both the animation department and depiction of Yuri shows, and this show is no different. With rich, detailed backgrounds and soft-coloured palettes of art that oozes the contrast between both (imaginary) expectations and reality, add in the extraordinary transitional effects of life and dreams abound, and this has got to be one of Tezuka Productions' finest attractive and alluring work of recent times. Also, some pretty good sound and music across the board, and I swear that the well-talented VA Akari Kitou (after Kimetsu no Yaiba's Nezuko) is REALLY laying down her suss and on a trail-blazing roll for 2020 alone: Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun's Nene, Kyokou Suiri's Kotoko, Love Live! Nijigasaki's Kanata, Tonikaku Kawaii's Tsukasa, and now this show with Adachi, ALL of which are MC roles (and that's one impressive heck in established popularity). Of course, not forgetting Miku Itou (Shimamura), Reina Ueda (Nagafuji) and Manami Numakura (Hino) on their respective roles. A spectacular job from veteran Seiyuus, no surprises. The OST is also well-refined to the likes of cheery, jovial tunes, it's as if it was made for this show. and once again, both Akari Kitou and Miku Itou's collaborated OP pairing really did wonders (the former doing BOTH OP and ED, as if to punch our hearts with the perfect-feeling gut-wrenching emotions even further). More than just another recommended show, it's another great show to add into the line-up of the illusively Yuri genre of "non-cringefest" and "pure as white snow" feels. Now only if LGBTQ+ anime representations are influenced well into the real world, how wonderful will it be???

Adachi to Shimamura is a light-hearted, relaxing shoujo-ai series released in this season. Believe it or not, I was actually interested in watching this show mainly because I am a fan of the seiyuu cast, and character designs look aesthetically pleasing. I decided to watch this, and thankfully, it piqued my interest. It has become one of my favorite yuri series, and it's my personal favorite anime in Fall 2020. The main duo of the aforementioned names, Adachi and Shimamura, are the highlights of the show, and I would say that they are some of the best written and most relatable out of all the yuri series I have watched so far. Both are extremes of emotional states all of us have felt at one time or another, and both are fundamentally flawed human beings in different ways. Both of them called themselves as "delinquents" because they had a habit of skipping class. It is their gradual emotional development that makes up the substance of the series, both in general and to each other. Hogetsu Shimamura is a reasonably functional, sociable girl who just has no real attachment to life. She is unwilling to put relationships beyond the bare minimum effort towards them because she feels that human relationships are bothersome and require too much effort to maintain such balance. She is passive, she's never takes the initiative, and she doesn't speak her preference about where the flow of time carries her. She's also a bit of an airhead, as well as being an indifferent kind of girl, and it made her to skip class as well as not being aware of Adachi's own flaws initially. Shimamura has two of her other friends, who are Hino and Nagafuji. Sakura Adachi, on the other hand, is both shy and unsociable. She's so introverted, she finds herself incapable of connecting with others because she can't clearly speak what's on her mind, and it make the entire situation difficult for her. She is very lonely in every sense of the word, she didn't even have much of a relationship with her family. It's this suffocating loneliness that has made her to also skip class. Adachi has finally met her first partner, Shimamura, the first person she ever truly wanted to interact with. Then they eventually became friends and started getting into the relationship together. Shimamura was my favorite because she's actually pretty sweet and humble, albeit she's indifferent, & she likes to tease sometimes. Also, she's voiced by Miku Itou who is my personal favorite seiyuu because of her sweet voice. Then I noticed that Adachi has an introverted personality that is similar to mine because she and I have had some emotional problems. It makes her especially relatable to me, and it also makes her such an interesting, well-written character. If I'm Adachi, I would feel pretty similar when I get to have a relationship with someone because I'm pretty introverted myself, and I wouldn't mind at all if I can meet a person like Shimamura. Both characters are very likable with different kinds of flaws, and both end up in relationship in a pure, simple way at a slow, but steady pace. Hino is a bubbly, petite girl who enjoys fishing, and she often complains not having friends who have a similar interest. Her childhood friend Nagafuji is a busty, mature girl who's also an airhead, and she slaps Hino whenever Hino touches her chest. Those two are both very lovable and entertaining, and they even give some helpful advice to Adachi and Shimamura to balance out their conflicting relationship. Yashiro, the mascot of the series, is a girl in the astronaut suit who turns out to be a glowing blue-haired alien girl. She really loves sweets and she can even eat them under her helmet! Personally, I find her annoying, and she's the only part that I don't like in the anime. She seems to be out-of-place, and I can tell that Shimamura feels irritated when she meets this alien loli. The artsyle of this is both crisp and beautiful, and I would like to give props to Tezuka Productions, which is the same animation studio that made The Quintessential Quintuplets. I'm really impressed on how beautifully illustrated the animations and character designs are, and the lighting helps highlighting the emotion scenes well. The voice acting is incredibly well done, and Akari Kito, Miku Itou, Manami Numakura, and Reina Ueda all have done an amazing job portraying their characters. To me, a plot doesn't have to be ground-breaking to make the anime enjoyable. Adachi to Shimamura proves itself to be a highly entertaining romance anime without wasting the viewer’s time bringing up typical, nonsensical tropes, although there are some fanservice in some scenes. The main characters are relatable and well-written, and their relationship gives me a wholesome feeling. Adachi to Shimamura is one of my personal favorite yuri series I've watched, and I recommend this to the fans of the slice-of-life shoujo-ai series.

Float through the air together on a bicycle in a beautiful sunset - the cover picture of “Adachi to Shimamura” magically attracts every Yuri fan. Spending time together with a friend is definitely something we all enjoy. Eating, Chatting or just fooling around with a person we like makes us happy. Our story here is about Adachi and Shimamura, two high school girls who found each other in an unusual way to build a deep friendship… or is there even more behind it? Imagine you don't feel like attending classes and just want to crawl into your regular place upstairs in the gym where nobody can disturb you. But one day you meet another girl there who has the same thoughts as you. This was the way our two main protagonists met each other and began to spend a lot of time together. From the atmosphere you can feel the harmony between them was perfect, they instantly took a liking for each other. What is a "friend" for you? Before meeting Shimamura, Adachi never had someone whom she can call a friend. She had an extremely introverted personality and was cold towards other people. She didn’t even attempt to make friends with other girls in the past. Shimamura changed her life in that point. Through her, Adachi found a true friend and Adachi would like to spend all the wonderful time with her alone. That’s the reason why she is also a generally, very jealous person towards Shimamura when she is together with her friends and as a consequence usually ends up running away. Beginning with a friendship, she gradually realizes that she definitely wants more than “normal friends”. She wants to be with Shimamura forever. Shimamura on the other has always been quite popular and gets along with other girls. She is polite and open for everything. Although she spends a lot of time with other people, Shimamura finds human relationship as bothersome since she feels that it requires too much effort to maintain such balance. She is a bit slow when it comes to feelings and love, but she also feels the emptiness when Adachi is not around. Besides our two main characters, the supporting characters Yashiro, Taru, Taeko and Akira also appear in the series. They don't play a major role, but Shimamura gets along with them as well. They are good friends. What really catches your eye are all the beautiful scenes where the light contrast is unusual. There is often also a slow-motion effect applied as well which makes everything even more beautiful. The art style in general goes perfectly with a story about friendship and love. The beautiful moments they spend together are emphasized in color, but also the sad and lonely ones can also be recognized by the slightly darker backgrounds. Regardless of whether it is raining, sunny or just a touching scene, the visual effects are used perfectly. It is always stunning and beautiful. There are 7.8 billion people on earth, how can you meet THE person of your life under such circumstances? Still, Sakura and Hougetsu managed to meet each other. With the OP "Kimi ni Aeta Hi" both show this must have been fate. Only through the other person their world become brighter and colorful. In addition to the lyrics and the beautiful music, the visual representation also shows that they will never let the other person vanish away. The ED song, performed by Adachi only, underlines again how important Shima is being as a part of her life. Adachi would give everything for her, she will always be there for her. The music is very nice to listen to here as well. In addition to the songs, some short but beautiful melodies that are played during certain scenes are also perfectly fitting. As a big Yuri fan, I was really looking forward to this anime and was not disappointed. Besides the wholesome and cute story, it's just enjoyable to follow our characters. What really surprised me in a very positive way are the visual effects, which make everything even more color- and beautiful. Everyone who is a fan of slice of life in combination with Shoujo Ai will surely love this anime. Enjoy a pure and beautiful friendship! I am sure we will see more of “Adachi to Shimamura” in the future!

Please note this review is intended to be read by those that have finished watching Adachi to Shimamura and while care has been taken to minimize story related spoilers there may still be spoilers present within character analysis. You have been warned. Based on a popular light novel of the same name Adachi to Shimamura otherwise better known by its Synonym Adashima is a slice of life, romance, school, and Yuri genre anime that gives us the unique opportunity to see what will happen if one day a quiet and socially awkward girl who has few friends and was a virtual outcast within her assigned class, were to one day after ditching class and in the midst of heading to her one refuge within the school where she can be herself in the form of the rarely trodden second floor of the school’s gym was to encounter for the first time in a long time in the form of another person that shared her desire for a place that can serve as a refuge. Despite the two being on virtual ends of the school spectrum the two slowly but gradually begin to hit it off forming a strong bond between them that serves to not only open up the near closed-off hearts that both possess by showing them the power that friendship and acceptance can bring but also in the process begin the journey that both must embark upon if they want to step back into society not just as friends and cats licking each other’s wounds but maybe something that transcends that of friendship if both can play their cards right. Traditionally the school-based setting when used in conjunction with the modern-day setting that we see here in Adachi to Shimamura is one that has seen great success in replicating both the slice of life and romance scenarios due to a combination of both the unique society that schools present to its occupants as well as the innate social pressure that comes from being a person living in the 21st century a timeline that has stress, aspirations, and responsibilities by the bucket load. With such a heavy burden on their shoulders combined with the unique tension that can come from the unique societies that exist within schools the danger of being labelled as an outcast and ostracized by your classmates as well as being forced to try hard to maintain existing ones to forget past pains are constant issues that many high school students have to live with. While the premise and the setting of this series is one that’s common to a degree I felt that its core theme of healing one's heart by meeting and making genuine bonds with others and relearn what its actually like to have friends that aren’t fake and whose feelings and care for you are genuine was one that was paired relatively well with the romance aspect of the series that served to create a tale that was both compelling but also heartwarming to see an aspect that I felt was one that served to brighten our days in the wake of the crisis that’s sweeping through our world IRL. The first episode of the series I felt was an excellent one that while showing well the kind of world that Adachi and Shimamura view the world around them as also did well to showcase the kind of unique relationships that both the main leads have established between them while foretelling the kind of struggles that both will have as their journey to recovery begins a tale that I felt quite compelled to follow on as I was curious as to whether will they succeed in their endeavour and a decision that I felt was really justified. Sakura Adachi Sakura Adachi portrayed by veteran seiyuu singer Akari Kitou of Youkoso and Grancrest Senki fame is one of the main characters of the series and is one of the series two protagonists. A high school freshman Adachi from her initial appearances was seen to be a quiet, calm and confident person by nature that while intelligent and composed and someone that will have no trouble making friends was instead someone that seemingly preferred to stay away from the established groups within her class preferring instead to keep her heart firmly closed and finding refuge outside of the class. For a time this sense of finding refuge in places within the school that did not have much footfall by the rest of the school's occupants served Adachi well allowing her to find a sense of peace within the school where she can still remain herself and not needing to force herself to change her attitude to reflect that of her friends and classmates something that was all too common within schools. While itself an admirable attempt to retain one's independence of will high school life like the society that it serves is not one where one can exist in without making friends a fact that soon earned her a certain amount of notoriety within the class and saw her being labelled as a troublemaker by both her peers and the school. That is until one day when within her refuge she was to encounter another person who while was the total opposite to her in both class hierarchy and temperament was not only sharing her desire to find a place of refuge from which to shelter from the stresses that come from modern society but also surprisingly was able to get on well with Adachi and from there kindle the spark that will serve to allow Adachi to take the first steps in re-entering society by forming her first real friendship since entering high school. Though the first steps of their friendship was a shaky one due to her nervousness as well as her social awkwardness around others that she knew nothing about which was in turn supported by her reluctance to open her heart to others easily thanks to Shimamura’s kindness, patience and her desire to listen the relationship between the two rapidly progressed and soon formed into the solid foundation that served to define the core relationship that was between them. As the series progresses and we get to see more of Adachi’s personality get expanded upon it can be seen that unknown to everyone but herself that Adachi as a result of her nature and unwillingness to mix with her classmates had a fair share of issues that she was suffering from. As a result of her reluctance to get involved with others Adachi while having no trouble in maintaining her academic performance within the class was seen to view it not with a sense of elation but rather saw each of her days in school as being one that was filled with boredom and each day being a trial that proved ever harder to surmount. While the meeting with Shimamura and later with her friends Hino and Nagafuji served to spice things up for her and make her days in school much more bearable this was only when Shimamura was present within the class. However, after meeting not only Shimamura and later Hino and Nagafuji Adachi for the first time in her life as a high school girl was to experience an aspect of life that while being a fundamental aspect of a high school girls repository was something that was until then something completely alien to her which was a sense of genuine friendship and bonds that are formed between true friends who care nothing for false modesty and instead value honesty and sincerity in their relationships. For Adachi long resigned to the fact that she will not have any close friends within the school this meeting served well to open the closed-off heart that until now had been firmly closed by her own will in a quest to protect herself and introduce her to the unique interactions and heartfelt emotions and feelings that can only come from meeting with and bonding with likeminded friends that you can rely upon for both advice and that unique warmth that only close friends can bring to one another. While hesitant and fearful of taking the first steps into re-joining the very society that had burned her in the past thanks to the interactions that Adachi had experienced with Shimamura and wanting to both repay her as well as be strong enough to be able to enjoy more time with her Adachi resolves to take the one step that she never thought she be able to take …

"Adachi to Shimamura" has such a cute premise which is incredibly wholesome. Two students, Sakura Adachi and Hougetsu Shimamura, cross paths on the second floor of the school gymnasium while skipping classes. Their friendship gradually deepens as they grow closer to each other throughout the story. This had the potential to be something truly special, but the potential feels a bit wasted. There's two major issues which feel out of place and have no reason to be part of the plot. First, the story includes an alien who randomly appears dressed in a space suit, and the characters react to this bizarre occurrence as if it were completely normal. As much as I wish I was making that up, the alien then takes the form of a blue haired child. Her only purpose towards the early parts of the season is to be annoying and intrude into the alone time of the two main girls, preventing them to truly develop their relationship. As the show progresses, her existence is neither explained nor does it serve a greater purpose like helping a character figure something out about themselves or moving the plot along. Luckily, she gets shifted into the background in the later stages of the season. Without a clear reason for her existence or any explanation, her character feels unnecessary, and completely out of place. I can't understand how the other characters react to a girl who has glowing blue hair, emits light particles, and claims to be a centuries-old alien as if she's the most normal thing ever. The other thing which just felt completely out of place is that the first time a male character gets introduced and gets screen time, he's a pedophile peeping on little children at a swimming pool..... This scene serves ZERO purpose and just sort of exists, which makes it even more of a headscratcher. The relationship feels one-sided for most of the season. One character appears almost obsessed with the other, even going so far as to ignore her for days just because she talked to another girl for a few seconds. This creates an unhealthy dynamic where one character is deeply in love while the other seems to go along with it just to avoid loneliness. Adding to this, the character in love makes her feelings quite obvious, while the other is either completely oblivious or pretends to be, resulting in content which can tend to feel awkward . Despite the significant growth in the emotional bond between the characters throughout the season, it concludes on an unfulfilling note, leaving more questions than answers. This anime has its high points and several qualities that make for a pleasant viewing experience. The drawing style is pretty and the music is well chosen alongside a good voice cast. The romantic moments feel organic and genuine, and the interesting premise allows it to stand out in a genre with limited options. However, it does have glaring issues that range from minor disturbances to elements that become, quite frankly, extremely annoying. Ultimately, while the anime has moments that redeem it, making for an overall positive viewing experience, these flaws add an unfulfilling element that somewhat taints the experience.

Adachi and Shimamura are inseparable friends who spend their days talking about the most different types of things. However, Adachi begins to see Shimamura with different eyes and, little by little, the friendship between the two begins to become something much more complicated to deal with. It is very noticeable how Adachi to Shimamura tries to express himself with a more sensory approach in a very intimate way. The entire good level of anime production (of course, together with Artistic System thought by the director) is committed to causing sensations that have relations with the elements of the plot, but which, unfortunately, does not progress as expected. The first episode at least shows this very well, it has many organic elements that guide our look while we get to know a little of the story and the characters. Whether they like it or not, the characters act in ways that leave clues as to how they feel about this relationship, but that never open up to each other, it is a somewhat mysterious relationship. And the anime tries to explore a sensory side of it. The anime also makes quite a lot of very expressive details. Sometimes small gestures or experimentation. There is a commitment to show us small details and actions that cause an effect, that have an impact through the visual in an intimate way as these characters face each other, talk, play etc. With the passing of the episodes, the anime follows this same approach until the end, which would not be a problem, put following the progress of the plot (which becomes more complex, desolate and subtle) the anime in theory should improve, but the what happens is just the opposite. The big problem that gets in the way of this whole system of the director, is an unnecessary verbiage. The characters speak very expositively as they are feeling in relation to these feelings, and this causes a creative conflict in the work. Let's see. While the aesthetic interest of the work is to pass on such sensations and feelings to us through a more organic and sensory approach, all of this loses its meaning and the work tells us how they feel. There is a scene that is so self explanatory that the character even explains the analogy in the middle of it. Almost all of the more experimental value is thrown away, and the anime is almost just that. There is another scene of even more significant value that also loses much of its meaning due to this verbiage. We know that for Sakura Adachi's character, walking hand in hand has a very strong value (or at least it should have). Later in the anime, when Hougetsu's childhood friend Shimamura takes her hand, there is a very evident detail in this action. This act of walking hand in hand should have a very strong value, but it is also wasted. Another choice that didn’t make any sense, and that perhaps was purely formalistic, are the transitions between 16: 9 for Cinemascope. Cinemascope is such a proportion of the screen more vertically closed. I might even think that this is a representation of the characters being submissive in some way, but the anime only uses it at random. In short, Adachi to Shimamura is a work that tries to deal with a conflicting plot in a very expressive and innovative way, but that prevents the viewer from feeling such emotions due to differences in the way it is staged.

For a show written by the same author as Denpa Onna, I wouldn't have imagined myself to be so enamoured by, and so engrossed in Adachi to Shimamura. In many ways, it is a refinement of Denpa Onna's ideas and themes, polished to a mirror sheen and given incredible focus to its subject matter. Adachi to Shimamura stars the titular couple, a pair of socially awkward introverts (though Shimamura makes an effort to seem outgoing) with copious amounts of inner monologues throughout the whole series. What makes the show so relatable, is that, in spite of the heavy narration, Adachi and Shimamura feel like real people. It's very easy to empathize with either of them and the strong writing does wonders to make these people seem so natural in their behaviour and in their conversations with each other and with others. It's honestly refreshing to watch the very first episode and be impressed with how the conversations turned out, i.e. it's very much something you would have with someone else, a very realistic and natural conversation, about nothing at all, yet entirely encapsulating nonetheless. The series gives a strong focus to Adachi and Shimamura's progressing relationship, with the irony that Adachi becomes more awkward and embarrassed around Shimamura the more she starts to realize her feelings for her. Unlike the scatterbrained Denpa Onna, AdaShima is comparatively razor sharp in its focus, with the occasional digression to look at the lives of Hino and Nagafuji (itself a foil to Adachi and Shimamura's relationship) as well as Shimamura's sister and Denpa Onna canon immigrant Yashiro (a different one, but related to the Yashiro from Denpa Onna). Adachi's dorkiness is incredibly adorable and her turning into a puppy or spilling her spaghetti in front of Shimamura is really cute. But I do enjoy how both characters do slowly work towards building their romance with each other. Refreshingly, there is little to no drama or substantial love triangle in this show, unlike the very similar YagaKimi where Touko going through an identity crisis built into the main drama/conflict of self-identity and discovery. AdaShima is very relaxing and comfy by comparison, offering very pleasant visuals paired with a soothing soundtrack as you witness the two go through their day-to-day. The surprising thing is that there is never a dull moment in the show, glacial as the pacing may be, every moment centered around Adachi or Shimamura does something in progressing or exploring their relationship with each other or with the outside world. Tarumi's inclusion does raise Adachi's jealousy by a fair bit, but she never becomes a rival in the same way as say, Sayaka from YagaKimi (which coincidentally received a spinoff spotlight LN by the same author, and of which Tarumi heavily resembles in voice and in role), at least this far into the show. There's a somewhat ethereal flow to the conversations and their depictions in the show. Very dreamlike, sci-fi-like, or floaty. The kind of conversations that make your mind wander off, yet pay close attention to in the same time. Maybe Yashiro's presence is rubbing off on me with her alien-like abilities toying around with the cast every so often. If you're ever tired of cliched will-be-wont-be's or drama-heavy romance series, AdaShima may just be the cure for you. Its pace is incredibly slow, but it does work for the kind of series it is: A relaxing thought-provoking look into the minds of two introverts who fall in love with each other, with a very real approach to its dialogue and inner monologues. 7/10

Before watching this anime, the only anime I found myself disliking were shows that were poorly made overall. This anime has a good production value. The animation is great, the characters look adorable, the direction is good - which just made suffering through it disappointing on top of unentertaining. This anime starts off very strong. The relationship between Adachi and Shimamura is enticing and it made me want to see where it would go - and I was promptly handed my comeuppance for this transgression. There's a certain point in the show when watching Adachi and Shimamura's relationship goes from adorable to excruciating. It's during the day when the kid joins them at the mall. While the scene made me very angry, it was for a good reason. I relate heavily to Adachi, and I absolutely hated that kid because I understood exactly what it's like to be in that situation. I was so happy when it ended and Adachi got to go back to being alone with Shimamura - except the only problem was the show found out how to make me feel the same form of anguish even without the kid. Very soon after the scene I described ends Adachi's character absolutely plummets. She goes from being shy and closed off from everyone except Shimamura, to shy and closed off from everyone, including Shimamura. I absolutely know that her feelings are realistic, but it's so hard to watch. We never get any release from Adachi's social anxiety. There are no islands where she's truly able to bond with Shimamura. It's nothing but her running away, not knowing what to say, etc. Again, these things aren't bad when the conflict they bring is resolved - but there just is none in this show. Up until the very end Adachi never grows past her anxiety, and even this wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that she didn't start off so socially inept. She's perfectly competent at the beginning, but after a few episodes she just becomes hopeless. I get that it's realistic, but there is such thing as being too realistic. Besides, despite being realistic, there's still plenty of fanservice, so that took away any brownie points I could give it for realism. There are some cute moments in this show, but overall it was just suffering past a certain point. If it weren't for the amazing animation and tiny amounts of cute moments, I'd find this show horrid, but thankfully there are redeeming qualities.

I'll put it bluntly, if you wanted to watch a heart warming yuti romance story, don't waste your time. This one gives you false hope initially, before degrading in to cliché filled mediocrity. Spoilers from this point on. The show keep up a decent façade in the first half, but suffers from "why am I still watching this?" syndrome midway, when you realize nothing really happened so far and probably will not. And that's exactly the case. Ending pretty much gives up on the romance aspect, and the entire second half is pointless. All in all this is your typical one-sided love story with a yuri twist on it, but it fails to explore either of the subjects, and ends up wasting your time. Even something as blatantly fan-service focused like Sakura Trick had more value as a romantic anime, so don't waste your time here.

(TLDR Review at the bottom, as always, thanks for reading) Let's get the important questions over and done with. Is AdaShima a yuri anime the community knows and loves with excessive kissing and other unholy actions? No. Is AdaShima a wholesome love story that will inevitably take part in fuelling various wholesome forums and anime boards across the internet? Yes. Now for the review. AdaShima is a pleasant anime to arise from what is now a playground consisting of generic isekai, hyped (but by no means bad) shounen anime, and other heavily anticipated anime deriving from popular manga and creators. I won't lie, this year has given some other decent romance anime to remember, but I don't think they had the same touch as AdaShima, as in the touch of youthful school romance you usually get from your average school shoujo non-comedy anime such as Kimi ni Todoke and Say "I Love You". It is a nice addition to go forward with, whether it be with the romance genre or the Shoujo Ai genre or the anime seasons that awaits us. Every now and then a simple school story that doesn't converge with what else is in the air won't hurt. It acts as an equalizer, if you like, that doesn't usually appear in this day and age. Narrative: I said AdaShima is a simple school story, to be more precise, a simple school love story. And yes. It is quite literally that. There isn't any quality of the anime to fish out as majorly impressive or distuginging to sit through, albeit there were elements from the characters that did annoy me slightly which I will get onto later. In watching this story though, one thing that did get out to me was the presentation and execution. Something about AdaShima made me feel like I was reading a story, as in if it were in a book format, whilst concurrently watching an anime. If you don't already know, AdaShima originated as a light novel if I am not wrong. In my time of reading light novels, I must say, the detail into character thoughts and the viewpoints of surroundings and behavior is greatly enhanced. The anime does this through countless amounts of internal monologue, and not in a way that it was like the narrator from Peppa Pig, it is just the simple yet perplexing thoughts of your teenage girls that have fallen in love. Such a technique isn't new. But it does allow for interesting perspectives and looks into the behaviour of our protagonists. It makes them more human to look at rather than characters that exist to do things in some plot. Honestly, not a bad way to go around with such a simple story. With the pacing of the story, it wasn't too slow, but it wasn't fast either, if I had to say, it leans more onto the slow side of things, which in turn gave it that mood of realistic growth in the atmosphere rather than something that comes out of a 13 y/o teen relationship that exists just to get that street cred from classmates. Whilst it is a little slow, it is nothing that will make you fall asleep. The characters are somewhat interesting to focus on. I don't like dumb characters. I just don't know why someone would do dumb things. But the preception of what is 'dumb' and not all boils down to relativity, especially with emotions. Adachi is a good example of this. To me, Adachi did quite a lot of stupid things, though looking at the romance genre and everything it has given, her actions are to be expected and, not surprisingly, liked to some extent. In other words, she is your average romance protagonist. However, that doesn't excuse her from the stupid actions that you may be tired in seeing constantly. She is a jealous girl, and an iffy one too. Not that I have many emotions to begin with, but damn, I have seen this Adachi-kinda-girls more times than I have seen shounen plot armour. It is annoying to view nevertheless. The number of times Adachi gets jealous of whoever the hell Shimamura interacts with, or the silly amount of times she stops talking to Shimamura or runs away from her. It is undoubtedly some of the most generic plot devices for a dramatic atmosphere. But as I said, the story is simple, it is to be expected. Though, recalling back to my earlier statement of humanisation, it makes her more human, I mean half the times she has some of the most innocent of wet dreams when it comes to thinking about Shimamura. She is a loner. A teenager. Wouldn't be surprised if she hated 'insta normies' too. But yeah, she is what you would expect of someone who just fell in love. She has all the stupid qualites and the redeeming ones too. Even though I have said some negative things about her, she does fine as a character for this story. Shimamura is another engaging one to focus on. One could say she is denser than Osmium, or she is CEO of confused.com. Though in seriousness, I thought that she was indeed slightly dense and confused when it came to her tremulous relationship with Adachi. You see Shimamura's feelings towards Adachi are fogged. You can't say she has the same feelings as Adachi to her, however, you can't say that she is looking at her as just a friend. Friendzoned, if you like. I can never really tell what Shimamura truly thought about Adachi other than someone she really enjoys being with. You can tell what she will do next, but I was not convinced about her true motives in the event something went in a peculiar fashion. In her presence of taking up screen time, she has shown that she does question quite a bit of things mostly revolving around the people she spends time with, whether she has spent time well or not. But other than that, and her relation with Adachi, she isn't one that can be easily deciphered. Not a bad character, but not the star-of-the-show. Just a really thoughtful (the thinking kind) girl. Side characters, you could do without, their presence and impact on the story means little hence why I said that, they are not anything vile, but given how most of the story is focused on Adachi and Shimamura (surprisingly, as if the title wasn't enough), it felt as if that the side characters didn't need to exist in the slightest. It probably would have made for a more bland anime, so I give thanks that the side characters do exist, though they are indeed just useless to anything to push the plot forward, even Yashiro who was this alien from out of nowhere didn't mean much after episode 3 or somewhere close to it. A sad loss. But I wouldn't mourn over it. Audiovisuals: The visuals were good. Very good. Polished and detailed so much so that it actually feels like something from this generation of anime. I mean, don't tell moi u don't luv dem lips, u know u want dem close ups. Although, if you pictured a random scene as if they were landscapes, background visuals don't hold up to the character designs, which is kinda disappointing. Animation-wise, it felt slow, like the writer got so immersed with the slow pacing that they decided to jump onto one of the animation PCs and start animating. It has this slightly choppy flow to it which made for a few scenes that would trigger for a few giggles to come out unintentionally, like when Adachi physically runs away from Shimamura. Nothing appalling or unwatchable, but it is just a slight hiccup that disenchanted the experience. I swear I binge watched AdaShima and I have come out not remembering any of the OST, I really believe that it was that "in the moment" kind of OST being played as supposed to something intentionally made to stay in your head. Saying this, I will admit that I don't have the best memory in the world. However, not even one soundtrack has stuck with me since. I wouldn't say the sounds are bad though, as I willingly try to recall sounds played, for that, I would probably remember more than not. OP and ED were different, they stuck with me and were actually very nice to hear, it had that smoothing feel everytime you listen to it. Seiyuus were good. Basically what you would expect from anime like this. Nothing too deep or enlightening to report on that ma…

During the late afternoon, as classes ramble in the background, two girls sit together in the shade of their school's gymnasium. Boxed in by a fence, and the threat of being found, they take solace in each other's company, both being loners who feel distanced from those around them. Perhaps they read, or just talk, or play ping pong, or rest in each other's laps. In some ways, this place is a cage, but in other's it's more like a sanctuary, shared with someone truly special, someone who gets them. It's this feeling of distance yet warmth that begins Adachi and Shimamura. The first thing to note about AdaShima is that it is SLOW. Like, as slow of a burn a slow burn romance can get. It's atmosphere is quiet and melancholy, and it's in anything but a hurry to make progress. It stars two characters who are each in a form of stagnation, and the pacing highlights that to a palpable degree. Adachi loves her time with Shimamura, and wants to make their relationship even more special. But she's awkward, insecure, anxious, and grapples with a bit of internalized homophobia. She is the one who has the ability to initiate progress, but she struggles to express her feelings, out of a fear of rejection, insecurity of being seen as a weirdo, and generally being terrified of not being a special person to Shimamura, nervous of going too far too fast. Meanwhile, Shimamura holds the most power in the relationship. She is ultimately the one who is capable of allowing for progress, but she is detached, emotionally distanced, and terrified of intimacy. This conflict is what drives Adachi and Shimamura. Two characters who both want to make progress, who want to be closer to each other, who each have to overcome stagnation in order to do so. But the way I've described it, this almost makes it sound like a very generic romance story. A shy character trying to express their feelings to someone they feel is out of their league, or with who they don't want to distort an already existing relationship. And while this is a part of the narrative, I don't think it paints a fully accurate picture of the series. For one, while Adachi is the one who initiates progress, it is Shimamura who holds power in this relationship, by means of consent. Shimamura is extremely depressed and emotionally detached. She has an inability to form long-term relationships, and she justifies this to herself as a natural fact of how life works; that relationships will inherently break off. When people try to get close to her, she instinctively pushes them away. She's lonely and scared, and in her internal monologue undergoes a constant push and pull of wanting to get closer to Adachi but wanting to avoid intimacy. She has some, as she calls them, "superficial relationships," but that's as far as she knows how to go. This is her stagnation, and it's also the key to her and Adachi getting into a relationship, no matter how much Adachi might attempt to make advances. To highlight the dichotomy between these character's very different mindsets, AdaShima constantly switches between their perspectives, having most episodes led by one of their internal monologues. And there is a sharp contrast in their perspectives. Adachi's perspective is generally light-hearted and awkward. She's a dorky character struggling with endearing and relatable fears of being rejected by the person she loves. She tries to plan out the right words, she imagines silly scenarios in her mind about potential interactions with Shimamura (ranging from sweet to sexual), and she obsesses over even the tiniest amount of progress, going as far as to keep pieces of garbage if they are tied to a special moment between them. In contrast, Shimamura's perspective is always melancholy. Her internal monologue highlights her internal conflict: her isolation, loneliness, and desperation. She comes at you with these genuinely deep, sad lines about the nature of relationships for her, and they hurt to say the least. She paints this picture of someone suffering under the weight of her own loneliness, who feels like they're drowning, or breaking apart, and are desperately fighting to overcome that no matter how much pain the solution may come with. Adachi's perspective is very romantic, and captures all the adorable dorky awkwardness, insecurity, and most importantly, wonder of being in love, while Shimamura's perspective is more poignant, and drives the series themes. Of these two perspectives, I generally find Shimamura's to be the most engaging. Adachi's is very fun and sweet, but Shimamura's digs at the core that serves as the series beating emotional heart. Almost all of most resonant moments come from Shimamura's internal monologue, and I find her journey to be the most powerful thing about the series. Shimamura has become a very special character for me, one who I painfully relate to, and who brings to light some of the most frustrating things I hate about myself in a way that is simply raw. I've heard it said by people frustrated by the series that they wish Shimamura figured out Adachi's extremely obvious feelings at some point. But I believe that to think she doesn't figure it out is a gross misinterpretation of Shimamura's character. In fact, I would go as far as to say that she is acutely, consciously aware of Adachi's feelings at least as early as episode 5. Shimamura is perhaps a tad dense, but she's also very observant, and keenly aware of her relationships with those around her. She knows that most of her relationships are superficial, and it is Adachi who struggles to figure that out, only realizing that the smile she gets from Shimamura is the same as the one given to those around her relatively late into the series (a very sad realization that says a lot about both characters). But Shimamura shows that she knows something is up with Adachi pretty quickly. When Adachi invites her to hang out in episode 3, and Shimamura runs into Yashiro (who I will talk about later), Shimamura brings Yashiro with them to ease the tension and make the moment less intimate. When Adachi invites Shimamura out on Christmas in the most awkward way imaginable in episode 5, she grapples in her internal monologue with the idea that Adachi sees her as special. In this scene, she almost refuses the date because she can't handle the idea of being seen as the only person Adachi wants to be with, and when Adachi tries to make the scene less awkward, Shimamura twists her next lines to justify to herself that Adachi would want to go out with anyone, and that it doesn't matter that it's her. This is the nature of Shimamura's character. She clearly wants to be with Adachi, but she's too afraid to be seen as special and be let into others lives, and she constantly finds ways to justify their relationship and it's inability to progress, despite the fact that she is ultimately the one who refuses to allow that progress to occur. I find her extremely compelling for this reason. I've been mostly talking about Shimamura, and that's simply because I find her to be the series strongest asset. Adachi is a wonderful character, she's immensely endearing and adorable, and her perspective drives quite a few of my favorite moments. In particular, their Christmas date in episode 6 is a standout episode that captures the wonderful joy of being in love better than most romances I've seen, culminating one of the series most memorable moments. But ultimately, I don't have a whole lot to say about her. This isn't because she's not a compelling character, but Shimamura is just more complex. Adachi is wants to be seen as someone special to Shimamura, and is grapples with the fact that Shimamura is extremely distant and detached from basically everyone. Adachi is also starved for affection, likely due to her distant relationship with her mother, and like Shimamura she feels distant from everyone around her, though in her case it comes from feeling like an outcast. She is genuinely fantas…

If you go by the poster and the intro, Adachi to Shimamura looks like a romance. Two cute girls on a bike, deep eye contact, hands brushing up against each other, cherry blossom leaves falling like snow through sunlit scenery. The first couple of episodes builds towards something like that. Then the story gradually loses balance and becomes about a one-sided, obsessive and unrequited puppy-dog infatuation of one girl for another who doesn't seem to care much about anything but herself. Sounds familiar? That's because it is. It's basically the same premise of that other horrendous and disturbing Yuri/shoujo ai anime, Citrus, though the characters in Adachi to Shimamura are somewhat less obnoxious and sociopathic. I don't know why love between girls is so hard to write for light novel authors and mangakas, but they always seem end up this way. The relationships are portrayed as essentially unnatural - as something that inevitably results in toxic, unequal and deeply unhealthy dynamics with possessive behavior, borderline stalker obsession, emotional abuse and general creepiness. Other notable examples of these toxic relationships in shoujo ai are Bloom into You and Fragtime. In all the above mentioned animes, relationships between girls are depicted as unequal - with one girl who has an unhealthy and cringy obsession with another girl, who is generally emotionally distant and cold and doesn't necessarily change for the better by the end. There's also copious amounts of emotional and/or physical abuse in several of them. Adachi to Shimamura leaves you with a bad taste in the mouth. In the last inner monologue by Shimamura - the object of Adachi's creepy obsession - we learn that Shimamura is basically just using Adachi's infatuation to not feel lonely and that she'll go along with it until some day she'll be on her own again. How... ROMANTIC! This isn't a love story. It's a story about a lonely girl who becomes obsessed with another girl who suffers from chronic boredom and goes along with it for a bit of entertainment. It's sad and depressing and creepy. Oh and there's a space alien girl too for whatever reason. I assume there's some point to that in the manga this was based on, but in the TV show it's just utterly pointless. We deserve better shoujo ai than Adachi to Shimamura, Citrus, Bloom into You and Fragtime. But I guess this is all we can expect from a society as conservative and patriarchal as the Japanese. I've yet to see a satisfying and realistic story about love between girls. But if you have to pick one among the ones I mentioned, Bloom into You is probably the least terrible.

Disclaimer: I am helplessly in love with this show. Finding something special is an amazing feeling, made all the more wonderful when you make that discovery in an unlikely place. Perhaps you've chuckled at a funny memory for no reason in particular, or found a cherished item you could have sworn you lost years ago. That feeling describes how I feel about "Adachi to Shimamura," or Adachimura for short. I aimlessly stumbled across the show while looking for a quick seasonal to watch, and left having seen one of my favorites all-year. Why is that? Because Adachimura is enamored with that same special feeling - of meeting someone you never knew you needed, and seeing your life change forever. This review is meant to be spoiler-free, but feel free to skip ahead to my Tl;Dr if you'd like to go in blind. Adachimura is centered around two self-proclaimed delinquents, who in skipping class find themselves hanging out on the second floor of the school gym. Our partners-in-crime form a fast friendship, which grows into something more meaningful. The show explores the uncertainty that comes with having a first crush, the nuance in navigating social dynamics, and what it means to find someone special in your life. Adachimura achieves this by frequently fleshing out the individual perspectives of our leads. At times it goes as far as to retrace its own steps, switching places to the other main character prior to a shared event. It's all about perspective. Getting into the headspaces of our girls is what Adachimura does best, with thoughtful observations providing the audience with plenty to relate to and think about. However, such perspective would be pointless if both girls were too similar, and thankfully Adachi and Shimamura are about as distinct as night and day. Meeting Adachi was like meeting myself; the only difference between her and yours truly is that I don't happen to be a "kawaii" high-school girl who's good at ping-pong. A habitual introvert closed off to the world around her, Adachi's walls come crashing down as Shimamura barges in. The hopeless romantic I am connects with Adachi effortlessly; I know all too well what it's like to fall for someone way out of your league. Lazy afternoons in the gym hall take on new meaning, as Adachi discovers a need in Shimamura. The smitten "delinquent" and her tumultuous feelings closely represent thoughts I've had for special people that changed my life. And no, I'm not just referring to the rampant hormone-induced horniness Adachi indulges in. Rather, the element that makes her arc so endearing are the changes she undergoes during this relationship. Watching Adachi's journey through her own eyes lets me know just how much her feelings for Shimamura influence her decisions. She second-guesses every tiny interaction, because Shima matters and is worth the extra thought. She trepidly tests the waters with moving the relationship forwards, because she wants to draw closer to Shima. She celebrates every small victory with excitement and relief, because knowing you need someone and are needed in return is the greatest news in the world. The way Adachi relays my past experiences back to me is just shy of a personal attack; at times her goofy naivety and awkward mannerisms leave me laughing as I hold my head in embarrassment. Having been in her shoes not too long ago, I empathize with her and root for every W she can find. Adachi discovers herself in someone else, and seeing her grow alongside her precious bond felt wholesome and rewarding. If Adachi is a character I relate to, Shimamura then is someone I've learnt a lot from. She's charming on the outside, and caring on the inside. Shimamura has her own reasons for killing time at the school gym. While her close friend is only just looking at life through rose-tinted glasses, Shima is one who's seen it all. She's never had problems clicking with peers around her, in fact she's almost spoilt for choice when it comes to picking cliques. But despite her ability to find her place amongst a sea of people, she feels lost, having yet to experience a bond that goes beyond the superficial. And it's not for lack of trying, as evidenced by her attempts at investing in relationships that didn't pay off. Her once excited, optimistic approach to life now carries a tinge of tiredness and world-weariness. Giving her all to others and putting on a likeable image has taken its toll on Shima. Her thoughtful introspection throughout the series shed some insight into interpersonal relationships from the perspective of my loved ones. In the past, my happiness over the notion that I'm liked by my friends sent my expectations of them sky-high and clouded the truth - that these people are just… people. Individuals, with wants and needs, just as I am. Shimamura showed me what it's like to be on the receiving end of those expectations. The show goes at length to depict how tiring it can be to keep up with changing dynamics, when the status quo works so well. Her caring nature is at odds with the idea that getting too attached to people is an exercise in futility. That is, until Adachi proves her wrong. Once again, Adachimura celebrates what it means to meet someone special, gradually bringing color back to Shima's world. It's a joy to watch her slowly open her heart to Adachi and welcome those innocent feelings of youth once more. Adachimura glitters its coming-of-age story with charm and wide-eyed whimsy. Don't worry about the character introspection being nearly as dry as the essay I've put together, as the show strings together its melancholic musings with some great, witty dialogue. The show is brimming with thoughtful quotables about the human condition, as well as characterization through dialogue that gives attentive viewers plenty to chew on. Adachimura also shares the various ways people share their love through its side characters, with pals Nagafuji and Hino taking the show to new, adorable heights of gay. Speaking of side characters, we are introduced to a literal ALIEN who holds no significance to the plot other than comic relief and playing the occasional deuteragonist. IDK about you, but I find that concept incredibly funny. The Alien joins a looney astrologist and a hack fortune teller as a group of oddballs that occasionally make appearances in an otherwise grounded show, perhaps suggesting that relationships between people are as mystic and mysterious as the zany stuff I just mentioned. In any case, a playful, fantastical charm permeates every aspect of the show, depicting the mundane through cute visual motifs and a vibrant sheen. The art style is quite literally shiny, but not all there for flashy effect; strong direction and versatile stylistic choices amplify the message being shared. All-in-all, the show is just gosh-darn beautiful. As much as I'm in love with Adachimura, it's not a show for everyone. One issue is how the show disobeys the adage "Show, Don't Tell." It spells out most of its metaphors out for the viewer. While some who struggle with reading subtext would appreciate the clarity, others might find that this adds to the series' struggle with repetition. Adding to that weakness is the constant use of anti-climax. Sure, using that device a story isn't always a bad thing, but the very nature of it inherently robs the audience from catharsis. Adachimura often succumbs to repetition and a lack of "real" progression. Adachi's frequent compromises are seen as the same rinse-and-repeat plot structure we've grown to dislike. Given my biases and personal experiences, all I can say is that such anti-climax is as real as it gets. 'Cause even if things stay mostly the same, there's always joy to be had in sharing that special bond. And who knows? Perhaps life has more miracles in store, and more ways to open us up to new experiences. Whether you're coming into the world with fresh eyes or have seen all there is to see, life will find a way to surprise us through th…

It was so cuteeee. The character development is a standout feature, with Adachi and Shimamura undergoing significant growth as they come to terms with their feelings. The anime captures the vulnerability, joy, and confusion that come with the exploration of one's identity and emotions during adolescence. Visually, this series is a treat, with a soft color palette and subtle animations that perfectly complement the emotional atmosphere. The overall aesthetic enhances the viewer's connection to the characters and their evolving relationship. The positive reception when this anime was live is well-deserved. It resonates for its sincere approach to the yuri romance genre, offering a refreshing and heartfelt experience <3